Self-Dealing Attorney in Walnut Creek
Protecting Our Clients’ Interests in Alameda County
Self-dealing is any activity a trustee engages in that uses a trust’s assets for their own benefit. Even though this sounds like it should be a pretty easy concept to identify and prove, a lot of nuance and detail can cloud any issue enough to seed doubt about what’s really going on. An experienced attorney who has represented clients involved in estate matters is the best source you can go to when you need help determining your liability as a trustee or that of someone else you believe is engaging in self-dealing.
Feldman Law Group’s founding attorney, Aaron Feldman, has helped people throughout Alameda County litigate their probate and trust administration matters for 35 years. If you believe you would have a case involving a trustee acting in their own self-interest with an estate’s assets, or are accused of such activity, Aaron can represent your interests as your self-dealing attorney in Walnut Creek.
Investments & Asset Management
A trustee has a fiduciary duty to use assets in a trust to act only in the best interests of the trust’s beneficiaries. This includes making careful decisions regarding investment or distribution of trust assets, which involves avoiding high-risk investment decisions and loaning money held in the trust to friends or themselves.
Because a trustee does have the authority to invest assets or provide early distributions, it can be hard to discern when such activity crosses the line into self-dealing or mismanagement. An attorney can help you make the distinction and take legal action should litigation or mediation be necessary to resolve a dispute between a trustee and beneficiaries. At Feldman Law Group, attorney Aaron Feldman has more than 35 years helping clients like you reach favorable outcomes in similar legal disputes.
Contact Feldman Law Group online or call (925) 208-4543 to reach out to Aaron and request a consultation to tell him more about your situation and learn how our services can help you reach a favorable resolution.
Can Trustees Take Fees for Administering an Estate?
Trustees and estate executors are entitled to take a fee from the estate as compensation for administering a trust, even if they are family members of the deceased and also beneficiaries of the trust. The mere fact that someone has claimed such compensation shouldn’t raise eyebrows toward self-dealing worries, but the amount of compensation a trustee takes might.
California’s probate laws don’t come down on a hard number or percentage, but rather state that a “reasonable” trustee fee is permitted. If you’re creating a trust, it’s probably not a bad idea to specify these parameters if you think conflict will arise when your executor takes a fee.
It can help the trustee to know how much they can take to offset personal costs associated with administering details of the estate, such as those that are necessary to put the deceased’s real estate on the market.
Whether your intent is to prove that a trustee’s fee is reasonable or not, you should be prepared with financial evidence to back up your case. Our self-dealing attorneys in Walnut Creek at Feldman Law Group can help Alameda County residents prepare strong cases to assert their rights and protect their interests when concerns regarding a trustee’s administration of an estate are raised.
Reach out to us online and ask to meet with attorney Aaron Feldman who has 35 years of experience helping clients like you.
